This will be as close to a replica of a 1980's Saturday Morning as we can get. Commercial breaks, shows airing at the right times, and all that jazz. Basically, you'll hit Play and don't pause it until it's done. Take your breaks during commercials, just like you did in the 80's. ;D

We've been selected for the LiveJournal spotlight starting tomorrow. Let's hope we're not TOO inundated with new people! o_O

I'll post something when we get closer. There's lots of polls you can answer and help us to shape our Saturday morning projects!

Yes! We're including bumpers (where they can be found, they're the show-specific bumper from the correct year, else a show-specific bumper or generic Saturday morning bumper from the right station), commercials, public service announcements, those little shorts like One to Grow On...

It's progressing quite well. It's a big project and we hope to do more in the future. Perhaps one more this year.

The big 1980's Saturday Morning re-creation is this weekend! We'll be posting links to a playlist and a chat-along! It will start at 6AM Pacific time. There will be ways you can join in later, but it would be awesome if you could watch along with the rest of us!

Early Saturday morning I crawled out of bed in my Rainbow Brite pajamas and turned on the TV and laptop. I clicked play on the playlist. The TV came to life. First thing was an old Slip 'n Slide commercial, followed by the original Keebler E.L. Fudge commercial, and then a great My Little Pony one. The TV went dark for a couple of seconds.

A lush forest scene with a sign that said Pee-wee's Playhouse and the sound of birds and wildlife in the background. Cyndi Lauper's awesome voice told me to pull up a chair, so I curled up in my giant oversized armchair with a blanket, which always makes me feel so small. Perfect. I settled in for a rainy day in Puppetland, screamed at the secret word, chanted with Jammi, and boggled at the amount of cleavage Miss Yvonne showed, all interspersed with toy and cereal commercials. Peewee zoomed off on his scooter. More commercials and a public service announcement.

This was followed by more shows, all interspersed with commercials and their bumpers (You know, those "We'll return after these messages" and "And now back to the show" clips? Yeah, those are called bumpers.), a few PSAs and educational clips. One to Grow On, In the News, Time for Timer, and other good ones.

So on to Get Along Gang, Snorks, and Smurfs. Somewhere around Muppet Babies, I started to get hungry and took advantage of a commercial break to go get some Cap'n Crunch. I even used an old Corningware bowl my mom gave me that sure looks like the ones we had in the 80's. It might actually BE one of the ones we had in the 80's. It was still just as tasty and sweet as I remembered.

It was truly incredible. It felt like a real 1980's Saturday morning. Something I'd dreamt about for years.

And the one major improvement over a standard Saturday morning from the 80's is that I did it with friends! A bunch of us logged on to a chat room and synchronized our playlists and talked about it as it played. We even kept screaming at the secret word (it showed up a LOT through the rest of the morning). There was a bit of trivia, too! We talked about 80's breakfast cereal, even. The ages of our known viewers varied from 5 to 38, and I'm told the 5-year-old was quite mesmerized.

So! You're kicking yourself for missing it now, right? Well, you can still watch the playlist for a few more days. It's going to be available through Sunday evening. You won't get the experience of watching it with others, but you can still watch it. Heck, you can get up this Saturday morning and play it if you want.

We plan to do it again. I'll post when we know what's going on. We're thinking about 3 months out, but we'll see how it goes.

Very cool! In fact, in the spirit of the '80s, I'd even say- Radical! Totally Tubular!

I will have to go back and watch the playlist on Youtube- that's a very neat project that I'm sure a lot of '80s kids will appreciate.
I take it the year being recreated was 1984, yes?
Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends started airing in 1981 but it was still shown in reruns for some years past that- glad that it's included in the playlist as it's one of my favorite '80s cartoons ever. (Not to mention one of my favorite superhero cartoons.)
And I'm definitely down for Kidd Video, Snorks, Smurfs and Muppet Babies. There are a few in there that I'm not as big on, but it will be neat to watch through the playlist when I get a chance... Unfortunately, I don't have my SilverHawks pajamas from childhood to wear for the event. (And I'm pretty sure they wouldn't fit even if I did )

_________________"I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No man comes to the Father but by me." - Jesus (John 14:6)

"You can do anything you want to do if you put your mind to it."- MacGyver

Okay- I did take a look at the playlist this weekend- but it was actually Sunday evening rather than Saturday morning...
and to be honest, I did skip around some- but it was a pretty fun experience even so. I had not watched "Peewee's Playhouse" in quite a while-lol. (Today's secret word is "goofy".)
But it was great watching "Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends", especially with all the original "We'll be right back after these messages" bumpers and everything! And of course, all the tons of '80s commercials in there- some of which I still remember.
And I also watched "Alvin and the Chipmunks" and "Muppet Babies".
So yes, it was abbreviated, but still a fun little '80s cartoons mini-marathon. (If I'd been able to afford the time, I probably would have gone in for "Snorks" and "Smurfs" and "Kidd Video" as well- I used to watch all three as a kid. I wasn't ever really big into some of the others in the lineup though...but I'd still take most anything from the '80s over most anything today

_________________"I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No man comes to the Father but by me." - Jesus (John 14:6)

"You can do anything you want to do if you put your mind to it."- MacGyver

"Thunder...Thunder....Thunder...ThunderCats...HOOOO!!!!!!"- Lion-O

Last edited by MacGyver on Wed Sep 14, 2011 7:47 am; edited 1 time in total

We did start with 1984 as our base year, but we had to change out a couple of things, which is how Pee-wee's Playhouse got in there.

I know what you mean. There haven't been that many cartoons since the 80's that I thought were really worth watching again. Animaniacs, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Angry Beavers, and a few others come to mind.

Well, I don't discount all of the '90s (a lot of it, but not necessarily all)- I also like Batman, Spider-Man, Spider-Man Unlimited, The Incredible Hulk, Superman, Iron Man, The Fantastic Four, Silver Surfer, The Avengers (but those are mainly because I love Marvel and DC Comics superheroes, so I'm generally up for most any superhero cartoon )
But there are some other cartoons like Tiny Toon Adventures, Two Stupid Dogs, Eek!Stravaganza, The Tick, and definitely Doug! (and some Disney cartoons- Talespin, Darkwing Duck, Aladdin, etc.)
And Fox's Peter Pan & The Pirates. And of course Captain Planet.
And I enjoy Spongebob Squarepants too and The Fairly Oddparents. (both of those last two actually did start in the late '90s- they've run quite a long while.)
But anyway- there are some good cartoons from more recent decades that I like.
But that may well cover both decades there just about (though I would throw in a few more shows from the 2000s as well)
But then comparatively speaking, my list from the 1980s (and '70s and '60s and even before, for that matter) is WAY, WAY longer!
And most of my favorites are definitely still in the '80s- so yeah, long live the '80s!

_________________"I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No man comes to the Father but by me." - Jesus (John 14:6)

"You can do anything you want to do if you put your mind to it."- MacGyver

I feel bad for the kids who don't get a Saturday morning experience anymore. It was a huge deal when we were kids. Multiple stations competing for our attention from 6:30 AM to 1:00 PM every Saturday morning. And every other kid you knew had the same viewing options. More often than not, they watched similar stuff and you could take that stuff out on the playground and make-believe together with whatever story all of you just saw that weekend.

It was a regular ritual for me. When they really dialed back the amount of content in the 90's, I knew it was the end of an era.

Oh wow- first time watching Peewee's Playhouse? That's a trip- lol!
I remember seeing this some when I was a kid- it's still crazy watching it now- but fun. (and crazy seeing some of the stuff they got away with back then...)

_________________"I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No man comes to the Father but by me." - Jesus (John 14:6)

"You can do anything you want to do if you put your mind to it."- MacGyver